The Great American Beer Festival has long topped my list of must-dos. I finally went this weekend with my brewer buddy Mike Clark. Here's the best and worse of the day.Top 12 beers I'd never tried before:
1. Black Tuesday, The Bruery.
No. 54 on the Beer Advocate list. Bourbon-barrel stouts were the bell of the ball, and this was the best. Huge, rich beer that is amazing. Folks were buzzing like crazy about it all day. Rightfully so.
2. Founders' Canadian Breakfast Stout.
No. 17 on the Beer Advocate list. Really rich. Really sweet. Pretty much incredible.
3. Hunahpu's Imperial Stout, Cigar City.
No. 45 on the BA list. The beer is aged over coffee beans and ancho chiles. It's big, bold and awesome.
4. Bourbon Country Brand Breakfast Stout, Goose Island.
No. 21 on the BA list. Another big stout that tasted more of alcohol but still really solid.
5. Founders' Breakfast Stout.
No. 7 on the BA list. It's great but doesn't pack quite the taste of the Canadian.
6. Firestone Walker's Parabola.
No. 97 on the BA list. It's a pretty intense imperial stout, but mellower and more mature than some of its competition. Really solid.
7. Older Viscosity, Port Brewing.
Really, rich intense stout from one of my favorite breweries. Worth seeking out for sure.
8. Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale -- Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, Cigar City.
It tasted like a Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. Really different but in a good way.
9. Vlad the Imp Aler, Cascade.
Really great sour. I liked it better that the Bourbonic Plague I also had from them.
10. Racer X, Bear Republic.
The best IPA of the day from one of my favorite California breweries.
11. Bourbon Barrel Stout, Odell.
A damn nice example from a damn good Colorado brewery. Their line-up could have been one of the best at the whole event. Odell is so much better than New Belgium, it's laughable.
12. DeConstruction Ale, Odell.
A wonderful American strong ale.
Biggest disappointments
1. Dogfish Head.
Their line-up was woefully underwhelming. A lot of creative beers that seemed like they'd be awesome but lacked the taste I was looking for. The smokey and bitter stout Bitches Brew was the best but was merely OK. Theobroma, Chateau Jiahu and Grain to Glass were a waste of ling-waiting time and valuable drinking space in my gut. I left still puzzled about why DFH is so well liked. Their 60 Minute IPA is very solid. I think their 90 Minute is way too malty for the style. Much of their other creative stuff seems to miss the mark. I appreciate their pushing of the brewery boundaries, but I really dislike a lot of their stuff.
2. Sam Adams.
They kept teasing the pouring of their fabled Utopias -- the 27-percent alcohol beer that pours from a copper container. We checked back many a time to get a hold of it, but they opened it on the sly and it quickly disappeared. Would have loved to try it.
3. Brooklyn Brewery, AleSmith, Bell's and Stone
Four breweries I wanted to visit but didn't have time. Maybe next year.
